Brave Brive defeat holders Auxerre
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Forward Lahdar Haddou battles on as Brive oust the French Cup holders
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PARIS, France (Reuters) -- Holders AJ Auxerre were dumped out of the French Cup on Tuesday when they were shocked 1-0 by fourth division Brive in the third round.
The Ligue 1 club had not conceded a goal in their nine previous games this year but amateur defender Manuel Debat broke through the Burgundy team's defence in the 53rd minute.
Auxerre's only previous defeat in 2004 had been in the League Cup semifinals last week when Nantes won on penalties after the game ended goalless following extra-time.
Impressive since the start of the season, Auxerre were uncharacteristically clumsy in front of the 14,000 Brive supporters.
Djibril Cisse, the Ligue 1 leading goalscorer, found the net two minutes before the break but his goal was disallowed for offside.
Two minutes before the final whistle, Cisse had another goal denied. It was Auxerre's only chance in an otherwise dull second half.
"This is huge!" said Brive coach Frederic Hantz. "Forty two years after the club was formed Brive got through to the last 16 - now 84 years later we're into our first quarterfinals."
Auxerre's veteran coach Guy Roux found the latest cup defeat hard to take.
"We've been knocked out of two cups in a week because of refereeing mistakes" Roux said, alluding to an Auxerre 'goal' that was disallowed.
"I'm sad and a little bitter but congratulations to Brive, they played magnificently and were fresher than us."
By contrast Paris St Germain, beaten by Auxerre in last year's Cup final, dismissed another fourth division team by winning 2-0 at Bayonne.
Fabrice Fiorese, with a spectacular volley in the 69th minute, and Portugal's Pauleta, with a header 11 minutes later, both took full advantage of fine crosses from PSG's Argentine defender Juan Pablo Sorin.
Bayonne had made something of a reputation as giantkillers by knocking out Ligue 1 En Avant Guingamp and Girondins Bordeaux in previous rounds.
